How can I find the cheapest credit card rates?

There are many ways to find the cheapest credit card rate. These days, consumers are blessed with an unprecedented amount of choices on the cheapest Credit card rates, brought to them through numerous media. The ease of finding the cheapest Credit card rate depends on the medium used. The most effective by far is the Internet, and the explanation for this follows.

The possibilities are: The high street, Radio, TV, post, magazines, newspapers, and the Internet.

If you are feeling energetic, the high street can be used because most financial institutions situated there will be advertising a Credit card. Normally, it would take a look in the window to see what is on offer, or you can walk into the bank or building society and ask about their Credit card options. This way obviously will take a good deal of effort, time and walking, but you will at least be able to find the cheapest rate on the street.

However, many providers do not have a high-street presence. Some of them may be subsidiaries of banks or may be set up specifically to provide the service. Many of these will advertise the product on the TV or the Radio or by sending marketing information through the post. They will talk about the interest rates on offer for the introductory period for balance transfers and purchases or maybe the APR on offer or any rewards. This is all well and good, but you won't have all the products compared to each other. So, whilst every product may look appealing, and look cheap, it is still important to be able to look at a more comprehensive view of the market.

Newspapers and magazines can help you do this. Both may provide advertising in the same way as the television might, but many newspapers and some magazines will have personal finance sections that may list the the rates (often called 'Best Buy tables'). They may list the best rates for balance transfer, or the best rates for purchases, or the best rate without introductory offers, which at least allows a good basis for comparison.

The biggest disadvantage of this is that the data available isn't dynamic. This is where the Internet comes into his own.

You can still have best buy tables on the Internet, but the most useful application is the " comparison service" or "search and select" application. These allow a user to enter their current deals and have it worked out for them. It will work out how much they would save over a period of their choosing by switching. A user could also say they want to look at rewards, as they pay off their balance every month. A search and select application can do this and show the user what is the best that would be available for them. The word "available" is important, as by allowing the user to enter some details about their income and situation, the application could only display the products that they would be likely to be approved for, thus saving time and frustration.

How can I find the cheapest credit card rates?

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